Flower of Konohana
by Cupcake Heart
Summary: This is going to be a series of connected one-shots, set in the life of Harumi, my female protagonist that lives in Konohana.


**Author's Note**

First one-shot is dedicated to the folks at Hiro's fan-thread on Ushi No Tane. And Spicy_Sugar, because she's managed to somehow make it so my Konohana FemMC is going to marry Hiro instead of Kana as originally planned. I hope it doesn't suck, because this is for you guys. :P

Special thanks go to the midnighttiger and Slowpoke for beta reading for me!

Oh, in regards to the exam: Ayame isn't there to prevent misconduct, she is there to grade how Hiro is doing. Before you you become a full-fledged member of a medical profession, you tend to have to work under the eyes of others, at least some of the time. So they can decide on how well you're doing.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Summer, Year 1, Day 15<strong>_

Harumi leaned back on her heels, dragged the back of her hand slowly across her forehead, and sighed. Then she looked down at the crops before her, noting to herself that she only had one more row to pick, so she should be finished before high noon really settled in.

She wiped her forehead off again. That red hairband wasn't doing much, although it was her own fault she was out here this late in the morning, in the middle of summer, still picking her crops. She was usually done much earlier than this, but today she had gotten lazy and slept in until nearly ten o'clock. She groaned. It was too late to regret it now. She'd just have to remember not to stay out so late bare hand fishing tonight.

After the very last of the crops had been picked and carefully placed into her cart, she noticed she was swaying slightly. It was now a little past noon, and the sun was beating down as if it had a personal grudge against her. She slipped to the side and caught herself on her cart, barely managing not to faceplant in the dirt. As she slowly pulled herself upright, she sighed and decided that the best thing to do would probably be to stop by the clinic for a quick checkup. Well, _after_ she deposited her crops in the shipping bin. She'd been a bit irresponsible today, but she wanted to get her daily shipment done _somewhat_ on time. She'd also taken longer than she usually did to get it all done. It was just so relentlessly _hot_ today!

First, though, she had to get cleaned up a bit and hitch her horse to the cart. She was sweating so much her headband was nearly soaked, and she felt disgusting. She trotted into the house and splashed some water on her face, vaguely noting that she looked paler than usual, then made her way into the barn. As she entered, the soft smell of hay combined with the sweet nickering of her horse, Suki, seemed to clear some of the fog from her mind, and she spent a few minutes running her fingers through his soft mane and whispering soft words of affection to the faithful animal.

When she finally started coaxing Suki out of the barn, she thought to herself that she felt a bit better, and maybe she didn't need to visit the clinic after all. Maybe she'd just needed a few minutes in the shade. She carefully hitched Suki up to her cart, and deftly climbed onto his back, feeling a small wave of nausea as she did so. She took several minutes to steady herself, then gently hied the horse on.

She was halfway to the shipping bin when the lightheaded feeling came back. With it came the sneaking suspicion that she should probably have gotten herself something to drink while she'd been in the house, but she'd been in a hurry. She'd never been this late before, and while she knew that no one would mind her shipping her produce later in the day, it really bothered her that she'd been lax in her duties.

When the mayor, Ina, had given her some advice, some seeds, both the horse and cart, _and_ a few tools to get her started, surely she didn't expect results like the ones Harumi had produced so far.

The spring season had been mostly a dud, with only a few crops of turnips and potatoes to show for it. She'd lost nearly all of the cooking contests held between Konohana and Bluebell, despite Ina providing the ingredients for each of them. Harumi just wasn't very good at cooking, and even the best ingredients cannot make up for a lack of skill. Still, she'd managed to make some friends during that time.. among them a certain apprentice at the clinic.

Dr. Ayame had recommended that she get a physical when she'd first visited the clinic, so she scheduled it for the next day. When she'd come in that morning, that'd been when she'd met Hiro. She'd thought he was a full-fledged doctor in his own right, but he'd quickly made sure to say that no, he wasn't yet. He also told her that he would actually be the one administering her exam, and Ayame would be in the room with them during the whole thing.

She'd blushed through the entire procedure, even though she knew it was all completely professional and above-board. He had such warm chocolate brown eyes, and she could feel how soft his hands were when he was poking and prodding her in various places, asking if this or that spot hurt at all. He'd stopped and smiled at her every so often, telling her to relax, and that she was doing perfectly fine, and she'd tittered like a school girl each time. By the time the exam was over, and he'd gotten all her data written down on his clipboard, she could almost swear his ears were turning red. After he'd left the room, Dr. Ayame had come over, patted her on the shoulder, and laughed.

"That was too funny! You were so cute and shy... I don't think I've ever seen him so flustered before! Although I think the way you were acting so nervous and self-conscious would be enough to get any guy like that. Even a medical professional like my Hiro~"

It had taken a week for her to screw her courage up enough to stop by the clinic again. Luckily their second meeting had gone much better, and her reputation was thus restored to "new girl" from the previous "kind of weird new girl."

Harumi blinked and rubbed her eyes. What had made her completely space out like that... ? She'd reached the shipping bin, and was now sitting there staring at it like she'd forgotten what it was for. It was likely that she'd been doing so for at least several minutes. Suki had begun grazing, perhaps sensing that his mistress had vacated reality for the time being and figured he should take the opportunity for a light snack. Harumi looked around and silently thanked the Harvest Goddess that no one appeared to be in the area or else she would have died of shame.

She slipped off of Suki to begin the process of loading her produce into the shipping bin, but that's when the biggest wave of dizziness yet hit her like a slap to the head. Oh, yeah, she'd been sitting on Suki in the burning hot sunshine the entire time she'd been in that daze. She had a few seconds to mentally kick herself for not going straight to the clinic before she slowly tumbled to the ground in a dead faint.

The next thing she knew, she was laying on a bed with what felt like a wet towel across her forehead. It was so cool and damp that it felt wonderful against her still warm skin. She laid there for what felt like several minutes, not even bothering to open her eyes, before she started registering voices coming from somewhere to her left.

They sounded familiar. They also sounded rather upset. Harumi slowly blinked her eyes open and tried to peek over to see who they were without moving her head, so as not to disturb the towel placed there. It was harder than she thought it'd be, and she ended up sending the cloth tumbling off the side of the bed to hit the floor with a soft, damp splat. At least she could see who was talking now. It appeared that Dr. Ayame, Kana and Hiro were having a discussion. One that was probably about her. More specifically, one that was probably about how much of an idiot she'd have to be to go and pass out almost on top of the shipping bin. She grimaced. So much for improving her reputation.

Hiro happened to be looking over at her at the time, and saw her grimace, so he quickly rushed to her side and placed one hand on her forehead to gauge how hot it was. The other two noticed him go to her, and quickly followed him, with Dr. Ayame picking up the fallen cloth, and going to get a clean one. Hiro tsked at Harumi, shook his head, and then asked Kana to keep an eye on her for a few minutes while he went and got a thermometer.

After he'd left, Kana shifted from foot to foot and stuck his hands in his pockets. Then he smiled at Harumi, "You really gotta be more careful! I was just walking one of my horses to give her some exercise when I saw you just splatted there on the ground. I thought you were dead at first, and man did _that_ scare me! Anyway, I took you here. You've been knocked out for a bit but they said you'd be okay."

She blinked at him for a moment, "Oh... thank you! I.. oh, what happened to Suki? And my cart?"

"Nuthin to worry about. I led her back to your farm. I mean, I don't know much about medicine, so it seemed better than just waiting around here.. he's back in your barn, and your cart's in front of your house."

Harumi smiled, "Oh, that's good! Thank you again!"

Hiro had come back with the thermometer while Kana was talking, and Dr. Ayame had also returned with a clean cloth. They had been waiting patiently for a break in the conversation, so once it came Dr. Ayame gave the cloth to Harumi, who nodded gratefully in response. Hiro motioned to her, "I'll need to take your temperature. I took it about ten minutes ago, and it seems to be well on its way to normal, but I would like to take another reading to be safe."

Harumi meekly opened her mouth, and after the standard procedure was over with, was glad to hear him state that her temperature had dropped to only one degree above normal. She was less glad to hear that when she'd initially arrived at the clinic it had been a full four degrees higher.

Probably sensing the coming scolding, Kana told her again that he was happy she was okay, but that he really had to get back to his business and that he'd make sure to stop by to see how she was doing tomorrow. He gave an energetic wave and sauntered out of the clinic, with Harumi watching and wishing she could just bounce out of the room as well. She could see the looks on Dr. Ayame and Hiro's faces, and she didn't think she'd like what they had to say.

Dr. Ayame, however, merely hrrumphed and looked at her watch, then sighed. "Hiro, I have to go help Yun for a bit. She stopped me when I was getting that cloth and said that Ying has a stomachache, and she'd like me to take a look at her. Could you keep an eye on Harumi? She should be well enough to go home soon. Just make sure she drinks a lot of fluids."

Hiro nodded at her, and she strode quickly out of the clinic, shooting Harumi a lopsided smile over her shoulder. The door clicked shut, and Harumi decided it must be time to face the music, so she looked over at Hiro, who'd sat down on the bed across from hers.

He tilted his head and looked at her, "So, how did this happen?"

She sat up in the bed and stared down at her hands, which were fisted in the sheets, "Well.. see, I got a late start today, so I had to harvest my crops around noon.. I was in a hurry, so I didn't really stop for a break... I should have, I know that now, but I just didn't think about it at the time."

He sighed and she snuck a glance over at him. He was shaking his head, which seemed the proper thing to do before one reamed out someone.

"Harumi, you have to take better care of yourself. You had heat exhaustion, that was why you fainted. You could have really been hurt, especially if you'd laid there on the ground any longer. Kana isn't even sure how long you were there as it is."

Harumi flinched. He was right, of course. "I know. I'm sorry."

Hiro sighed again, "You don't have to apologize. Just try to be careful. A lot of people in this town care about you and want you to succeed. You shouldn't let them down."

She wondered if he was usually in the habit of being right. So far he hasn't missed the mark once, much to her embarrassment. She flushed a bright pink and mumbled that she promised she'd be a lot more careful in the future, which caused a small smile to flicker across Hiro's face.

"Well, " he said, glancing at his watch, "you should actually be able to go home now. Make sure you drink more water, and be extra careful for the next few weeks. You're going to be more sensitive to heat, and you don't want this to happen again."

She frantically shook her head and agreed with him. In fact, she was going to have to find some way to repay him (and Kana and Dr. Ayame) for their help today. After she'd thanked him repeatedly, with him shaking his head slightly, smiling and saying it was no trouble, she waved farewell and started on her walk back to her farm. He had actually offered to walk her home if she felt uneasy, but she had declined. She'd caused enough trouble, she didn't need him to play babysitter too.

She was, however, going to have to ask around about what the three of them liked. She just prayed that she wouldn't have to cook too much. Harvest Goddess knew that she didn't want to kill one (or more) of the people that'd helped her out so much today.


End file.
